Best Minecraft server plugins

Most public Paper or Spigot servers are built on the same small set of plugins: LuckPerms for permissions, EssentialsX for basic commands, Vault for economy, CoreProtect for rollbacks, WorldGuard for protected areas and Spark for finding lag. Below are the well-known plugins in each category, what they do and when you need them.

All of these run on Paper and usually on Spigot and Purpur too. Fabric and Forge use mods, not plugins; see Paper vs Spigot vs Purpur vs Fabric. If you have never installed a plugin, start with how to install plugins on a Minecraft server.

Permissions: LuckPerms

LuckPerms is the standard permissions plugin. It controls which commands and features each player or rank can use, with groups (default, VIP, moderator, admin), inheritance between them, and a web editor to change everything from your browser. It also works across a Velocity or BungeeCord network with a shared database. Install it first, because almost every other plugin uses permissions. Setup is in how to set up LuckPerms.

Basic commands: EssentialsX

EssentialsX adds the commands players expect: /home, /spawn, /tpa, /msg, /warp, kits, nicknames, mail, AFK status and more. It comes with optional modules such as EssentialsX Chat for chat formatting and EssentialsX Spawn for spawn handling. Only install the modules you use, and disable commands you don't want players to have through permissions.

Economy: Vault and an economy plugin

Vault doesn't do anything on its own. It is a bridge that lets shops, jobs, rank-up and other plugins talk to whichever economy and permissions plugin you use. Many plugins require it.

You still need an economy provider. EssentialsX has a simple built-in economy (/balance, /pay, /baltop) that works through Vault and is enough for most survival and economy servers. Add a shop plugin on top if players should buy and sell items.

Protection and rollback

• CoreProtect logs block changes, container access and more, and can roll back griefing by player, area and time. Every survival server should have it. Use /co inspect to check who changed a block.
• WorldGuard creates protected regions with flags: no PvP at spawn, no mob spawning, no block breaking. It needs WorldEdit, which is also the standard building tool for selecting and changing large areas. FastAsyncWorldEdit is a faster alternative many servers use for big edits.
• GriefPrevention lets players claim their own land with a golden shovel. Claims grow as players play, so it fits survival and SMP servers where players build their own bases. Towny and Factions servers use their own claim systems instead.

More on keeping builds safe is in how to protect a Minecraft server from griefing and DDoS.

Anti-cheat

Anti-cheat plugins detect movement and combat hacks such as fly, speed, reach and kill aura. Options people commonly use:

• Grim: free and open source, with a focus on movement checks that predict what the client should do.
• Vulcan: paid, with many combat and movement checks.

No anti-cheat catches everything, and every one can produce false flags, especially under lag or with Bedrock players through Geyser. Start with automatic kicks or alerts to staff, not instant bans, and test with your own game modes. Anti-cheat is most important on PvP and minigame servers.

Chat and moderation

• Punishments: a bans plugin gives you temporary bans, mutes, warnings and a history per player. LiteBans (paid) and AdvancedBan (free) are common choices. Pick one that stores data in a database if you run a network.
• Chat filtering: plugins like ChatControl block spam, caps, repeated messages and advertising.
• Discord bridge: DiscordSRV links in-game chat with a Discord channel and can send console output to a staff channel.

Performance tools

• Spark is a profiler: it records what the server spends its time on, so you can see which plugin, entity or chunk causes lag. Recent Paper versions include it. Run /spark profiler start, wait for lag, then /spark profiler stop and open the link.
• Chunky pre-generates the world. Generating new chunks while players explore is one of the most common causes of lag, so set a world border and run Chunky before you open the server.

Avoid plugins that promise to "clear lag" by killing entities and items every few minutes. They hide the problem and annoy players. How to reduce lag explains what to do instead.

Crossplay: Geyser and Floodgate

Geyser translates between Bedrock and Java, so players on phones, consoles and Windows Bedrock can join your Java server. Floodgate lets those Bedrock players join without a Java account. Bedrock players connect on a separate UDP port, 19132 by default. Full steps are in how to make a Minecraft server crossplay.

Voting and vote rewards

Votes on server lists bring new players, and rewards give your players a reason to vote every day.

• CraftRank Votes is our free plugin for CraftRank. It gives vote rewards without Votifier and without opening any ports, reminds players who have not voted yet, provides PlaceholderAPI placeholders, and with /craftrank spawn lets visitors walk around your spawn in 3D on your server page. Download it here; setup is in the docs.
• NuVotifier receives votes from lists that use the Votifier protocol, and a vote listener plugin such as VotingPlugin or SuperbVote turns those votes into rewards. See how to set up Votifier.

You can run both side by side.

Scoreboards, tab list and holograms

• PlaceholderAPI lets plugins share values like a player's rank, balance or vote count as placeholders such as %player_name%. Install it early; many display plugins depend on it. Extra placeholders come as expansions you download with /papi ecloud download.
• TAB handles the tab list, name tags above heads and a sidebar scoreboard, with animations and PlaceholderAPI support.
• DecentHolograms creates floating text and item displays, useful for spawn info, top voters and leaderboards.

Other popular plugins

• Multiverse-Core: run several worlds on one server, such as a resource world, a creative world and an event world.
• A backup plugin or host backups: see how to back up a Minecraft server.

How many plugins is too many?

There is no fixed number. A server with 60 well-made plugins can run smoother than one with 10 badly made ones. What matters:

• Each plugin should have a job. If you cannot say why it is installed, remove it.
• Avoid overlap. Two plugins that both handle chat, homes or economy fight each other and confuse players.
• Add plugins one at a time and test, so you know what broke when something breaks.
• Profile with Spark when the server lags, instead of guessing which plugin is heavy.
• Keep them updated, and check that a plugin supports your Minecraft version before you update the server.

Where to download plugins safely

Download plugins only from Hangar (PaperMC's plugin site), Modrinth, SpigotMC or the developer's own GitHub releases. Avoid reupload sites and "free" copies of paid plugins: they are a common way to spread malware that steals server access or adds backdoors for operator rights. Paid plugins are cheap compared to rebuilding a hacked server.